Magnolia: Hidden Realms of Silver Lake (Four Sisters of Fate Book 4)

  Magnolia

  Hidden Realms of Silver Lake

  The Four Sisters of Fate

  Book 4

  Vella Day

  Magnolia

  Copyright © 2019 by Vella Day

  Kindle Edition

  www.velladay.com

  velladayauthor@gmail.com

  Cover Art by Jaycee DeLorenzo

  Edited by Rebecca Cartee and Carol Adcock-Bezzo

  Published in the United States of America

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-941835-87-6

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author except in the case of brief questions embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events or locales, is entirely coincidental.

  A very reserved goddess of Fate and a water dragon go head-to-head in a battle of wills.

  Magnolia Faiten loves the control she’s honed over the years. Okay, the truth? It’s more of a need thing, but a chance fire in her workplace changes all of that. She might not be the glass half full type of woman, but when some super hunky dragon shifter rushes in and saves her, she decides the fire just might have been a good thing.

  The water dragon has more than one secret—one he refuses to reveal to anyone. If he did, his life wouldn’t be his anymore. When he carries out the beautiful Magnolia from what he thinks is certain death, he’s shocked to realize she is his mate. Now what should he do? Secrets have a way of destroying even the best relationships.

  Then Magnolia shocks him when she reveals she’s an immortal goddess! Okay, he can work with that. Too bad when he tells her what and who he is, Magnolia just disappears. To say the least, winning not only her trust but her love will be one of the biggest battles of his life.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  About the Book

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Excerpt from Consumed By Flames

  Other Books by the Author

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Magnolia Faiten was now alone—a most deadly condition for her psyche. It didn’t matter she was a goddess of Fate and had more power than most in the Tarradon realm. As soon as her three sisters headed off on their two-week vacation, a vacuum surrounded her. Sure, she claimed she wanted to stay at the pottery shop to work on some creations, but that had been a lie. In truth, she’d been afraid to travel to the other provinces and experience life. While she was good with customers, it was ordinary people that she had a hard time relating to.

  Shake it off, Magnolia. You’re strong, she told herself. Take time off to relax for once. You’ll enjoy it.

  Or was she just lying to herself to feel better? Whatever. Dwelling on such negative thoughts wouldn’t help her creativity.

  She parked the family’s communal car behind their shop and entered through the back of the house she and her three sisters shared. Magnolia carried in the groceries to the kitchen and set the bags on the counter. When she opened the fridge to find three of the shelves mostly bare, another wave of depression assaulted her.

  Trying to ignore how empty her soul felt without them, she placed the cold items into the fridge and closed the door. After being around for a hundred and thirty years, Magnolia knew the best antidote to this malaise was work. There were several pieces of pottery she needed to fire in the kiln and a couple she needed to glaze. There was no time like the present to get started. She inhaled deeply, ready to get the job done.

  Their workshop and showroom was connected to the house by a long, interior hallway. When she stepped into the pottery workshop, she flipped on the lights. Ah. This was her comfort space. Magnolia had put a Closed for Two Weeks sign on the front door, so she made sure the interior door leading to the showroom was closed. She didn’t need anyone peering in the storefront window and seeing her rush about in the back.

  The first thing she did was to locate the dried pieces she needed to fire and place them in the kiln. She then turned it on in order to do the first firing. As it heated, she straightened up the shop since not all of her sisters were the neatest. This kiln only took a few hours to reach the perfect temperature instead of taking all day and night, like the ones she’d heard about on Earth.

  Just as she finished straightening up the workplace to her liking, her stomach grumbled. It was no wonder she was hungry. She hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast. This morning, instead of eating, she’d driven Poppy to the train station, said her goodbyes, and then gone shopping. Spending a few hours cleaning this space had pushed her way past her usual lunchtime.

  In need of some food, she headed back to the kitchen for a very late lunch. When she looked in the cupboards, Magnolia wasn’t sure what to make. She was the one who usually cooked all the meals since her sisters were quite a disaster when it came to meal prep. Okay, that wasn’t totally fair to Acacia. She had some talent. Poppy and Primrose? Not so much. Cooking for one would be hard, but if she pretended all of her sisters were there, Magnolia would have enough food for three days’ worth of lunches.

  Because she didn’t have to work in the store or, fingers crossed, handle any spells for the Guardians and their potential mates, Magnolia decided to make something special.

  Indulging in her love of cooking, she searched several cookbooks before she found what she wanted to make. After setting out the ingredients, Magnolia went to work. Not only would she prepare a main meal, she’d make two vegetable dishes, and a gloriously decadent dessert. Having a purpose always made her feel better.

  Magnolia was half way through preparing the dessert when she smelled something coming from the workroom. After wiping her hands on a kitchen towel, she headed through the living room and then down a corridor that lead to the shop. Halfway there, the odor registered: smoke!

  Holy crap! Could the kiln have shorted out and caused a fire? Teleporting to the shop instead of going on foot, she landed in the middle of a room encased in pure white smoke. Flames were not only shooting around the kiln, they were licking the side wall of their building. How could this have happened?

  Her mind raced. Before she had the chance to decide how to put out the fire, a coughing fit stopped her from taking another step. They had a fire extinguisher someplace—a useless requirement imposed by the fire department because doing a spell to extinguish the flames would be so much more effective. So what if she’d promised not to use any of her magic for two weeks? This was their livelihood. Then again, she’d just teleported, which already broke her promise to herself.

  To put out the fire, Magnolia held out her hands and said a chant to extinguish the flames. Instead of them going out, they grew larger. The heat rose. The smoke intensified. Why wasn’t it working? If only her sisters were there, they could have joined forces. Together, their powers would have been strong enough.

  The four of them had put out a fire once when a shifter’s mate had been in trouble. Why didn’t it work now? Was it because a mate wasn’t in danger? This was th
e worst time for her powers to stop working—something that had never happened before.

  Her eyes stung, and it was becoming more difficult to breathe. Magnolia debated opening the door to the showroom, but that might cause a draft and make things worse. Why oh why did her sisters have to choose this week to leave?

  Do something!

  She bent down at the waist, and with a hand over her mouth and nose, shuffled to find the fire extinguisher. Waves of heat assaulted her, making it more difficult to traverse the room. Unfortunately, teleporting the few feet wasn’t practical since she wasn’t that precise.

  Magnolia choked. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t see.

  Where is that stupid extinguisher?

  If she didn’t do something soon, the shop and their home would be destroyed. Putting one foot in front of the other, her toe smashed into a table leg and caused her to trip. Her hands shot out in front of her to brace against the impact. Her knees hit the floor first, then her elbows, and finally her head.

  A sense of peace filled her as she sprawled out on the floor. Something cracked, and the air went out of her body. Being immortal, she couldn’t die, but she wondered if her brain wasn’t playing tricks on her. Even she needed oxygen.

  Just as she was about to teleport out of there, a huge ache stabbed her forehead. And then her world went black.

  Josh Gerrard had the next two days off from work. As Edendale’s arson investigator, he might be called in, but in case he wasn’t, he planned to enjoy a nice flight out to the lake where he could relax and enjoy nature. He had a small cabin in Hearndon Province that would give him his much-needed solitude.

  Pushing aside all thoughts of arsonists, he glided over the town and then across the countryside. His focus was on the distant horizon when he smelled smoke, causing his whole body to react to the potential danger. Swooping lower to find the source, he spotted billowing smoke and some flames shooting out from the Four Sisters Pottery shop. Oh, shit. While he’d never been inside or met the owners, he was friends with enough Guardians to know that the four sisters were special. According to rumor, they had saved more people than the entire fire department had last year.

  Flapping his dragon wings hard, he raced toward the shop where the fire had already burned a hole in the side of the building. That wasn’t good. While he had no idea if anyone was inside, Josh had no choice but to check it out. Normally, he would have landed and called the fire department, but this store was too far out of town and would be destroyed by the time they arrived.

  Since no one was around to see him, Josh drew on his magical abilities and filled his dragon body with water, turning his once black scales blue. Landing close to the house, he shot the water through the hole in the wall, hoping to douse the flames. More smoke poured out as the fire sizzled. His satisfaction surged when the threat finally died.

  Needing to keep his identity a secret, he was about to fly off when waves of lust assaulted him. What the hell? He quickly shifted into his human form to investigate the anomaly.

  The expected exhaustion he always experienced after using his water didn’t assault him this time. Okay, something crazy was going on here. Normally, it took hours to completely recover from one of his dousings, but at the moment, he’d never felt stronger.

  “Hello?” he called just in case anyone was inside. He doubted anyone could survive the smoke and heat, let alone answer, but he had to find out.

  Nothing.

  Just as he was about to leave, he heard a moan. Shit. Someone was in there. Even though heat was still pouring out of the structure’s side, and the room inside was filled with white smoke, he had to go in. He whipped off his shirt, placed it over his mouth and nose and stepped into what could best be described as a smoky oven. He waved his arms in the hopes of clearing the air enough to see something.

  Because he was an arson investigator, he was well aware of the dangers of entering a freshly burned building. It was why he studied the scene after it had cooled.

  Lucky for him, his physiology was different from every other shifter in that he could tolerate the smoke and heat better. Even so, his eyes always burned and teared.

  Methodically, he moved across the room, using his dragon shifter senses to locate where the moan had come from. “Where are you?” he asked, hoping against hope this person was able to respond.

  He stopped walking and listened for the sound of a breath. When more waves of pleasure floated toward him, Josh shook his head, convinced the smoke and heat had dulled his senses. Determined to find the cause of these strange sensations, he shuffled ahead. When he was about to turn around and leave, his foot ran into something soft. He once more waved his arm to clear away the smoke. What he saw nearly stopped his heart. There was a woman on the floor. He had to get her out of there.

  Josh crouched down, slid his hands under her body, and lifted her up. As fast as he dared move, he raced toward the hole in the wall. It took some angling and twisting of her body, but he finally made it outside with her in his arms. When he looked down at the woman, he was struck by the way her creamy skin contrasted with her rather lifeless condition.

  Once he was far enough away from the heat, he set her down on the grass. When he placed two fingers at her neck to check for a pulse, he couldn’t find one. Crap. Josh tilted back her head and placed his lips on hers to revitalize her. But before he could blow a breath into her, his whole body jerked back. It was as if she’d infused light and joy into his every cell. That freaked him out.

  Without any additional help from him, the woman gasped a large breath and then coughed. Relieved she was alive, he placed a hand on her shoulder to keep her from thrashing about. “Easy, now. You’re safe.”

  The chances were high she’d suffered from smoke inhalation. Immediate treatment was needed. A hand reached up and grabbed him. “You saved me?”

  The brunette with the arresting blue eyes and full lips tongue-tied him—in part because of her classic features and part from how quickly she seemed to recover.

  “Y…yes.”

  She pushed up to her elbows but then dropped back down. Turning her head toward her house, she groaned.

  “Where does it hurt?” he asked.

  “I’m fine.” Once more she pushed on her hands to sit up. This time she succeeded. “I was so stupid. I shouldn’t have left the kiln room.”

  “Let’s not worry about that.” Taking the blame for this fire wouldn’t help her heal. “Hi, I’m Josh Gerrard.”

  “The arson investigator?”

  She’d heard of him? “Yes, and you are?”

  “Magnolia Faiten. This is my store. I got so carried away with cooking that I lost track of time.”

  “We need to get you to a hospital. When I first checked, I couldn’t find a pulse.”

  Her brows scrunched. “Funny. I don’t remember dying.” Magnolia’s lips briefly lifted, and his heart, as well as a few other body parts, did an erotic dance.

  This was wrong on so many levels. Josh didn’t take to the skies all that often, but right now his inner dragon was going crazy.

  That’s because this beauty is our mate, his animal announced with what sounded like pride.

  Seriously? You must be suffering from smoke inhalation too, Josh returned.

  I am not. I’m a freaking dragon. I love fire and smoke, dude. Look at her. Magnolia is perfect. Surely you remember how we reacted to being near her?

  I remember all right.

  The issue at hand was that while she might look perfect, Josh had written off ever finding a mate. He was too different. Too strange. He was the only dragon shifter in the entire realm that could shoot fire and water at will. But it was his other talents that would really put off someone like Magnolia.

  She rose to her knees but quickly sat back down before rubbing her head. “I don’t understand why I’m so disoriented.”

  Without asking her permission, Josh lifted her into his arms. “I take it you live in this house?”

  “Yes, b
ut you don’t have to carry me.”

  He might have considered setting her down if her cheek hadn’t suddenly dropped onto his chest. She was out cold again.

  With her in his arms, he walked around to the back of the house. On the off chance the door wasn’t locked, he jiggled it. Score! He managed to keep hold of her while he opened it and then walked in. There was only a slight smell of smoke in here. Good. When Magnolia didn’t wake, he walked through the kitchen into the living room. Not having any idea where her bedroom was located, he placed her on the sofa. Just because her breathing didn’t seem labored didn’t mean she was out of the woods.

  “I’ll be right back,” he told her in case she could hear him.

  Josh rushed to the kitchen, filled a glass with water, and returned. After setting the glass on the coffee table, he slipped a hip on the edge of the sofa, ready to wait for as long as he needed for her to wake up again. He blew out a deep breath. Had he really found his mate? Or was he just wishing for the impossible?

  Chapter Two

  Magnolia kept hearing this deep voice flit in and out of her subconscious, but she couldn’t make herself wake up to check it out. Something like this shouldn’t ever happen to her. She was a goddess for goodness sake.

  Then bits and pieces of what seemed like a dream entered her brain. The fire. The smoke. The heat. She recalled waking up and seeing the most gorgeous man—dark hair cut short, slight scruff on his cheeks and neck, and piercing blue eyes. He was a dragon shifter as well as the arson investigator, but that was all she recalled. Then everything went blank.

  A hand shook her. “Magnolia, please wake up.”

  This time, the draw of his sexy voice did the trick. She opened her eyes. It was him! His forehead had a gray streak across it, but other than that, the man was perfect. Only then did the stench of smoke assault her senses, and she scrunched up her nose.

  Magnolia looked around. “How did I get here?”